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Comment by johnpowell | Hacker News Reader

I have the same "Coronavirus Protection Mask" in the screenshot and I got it from Amazon a year ago. It barely works for keeping dust out of my nose when I am using the table saw. I feel comfortable saying it will offer zero protection for airborne illnesses.

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Cotton surgical masks are generally intended to protect other people from your germs... Not the other way around.

Masks may do more to protect the vulnerable around you from what you may unknowingly have. Please don't rule them out entirely.

These things are just a charcoal pad on the inside of a mesh with very large holes. If sawdust can come in my cough can go out.

And I am not saying all masks are dumb. Just this specific one when it is marketed as protection from the current problem. It is fraud.

I spent six hours on the cancer floors of the local hospital the other day getting injections and we had to wear masks in the lobbies. It was the only part of the hospital I know of that required them. But it is the cancer floors and people have very little immune systems. When I was a few months into chemo my WBC count was under 1200. So low they couldn't do anymore chemo.

So every little bit helps. And perhaps I am a bit angsty thinking that people are using the masks for no reason when there are people that actually need them. Again, I am not talking about the ebay garbage mask. I am talking about the ones that actually could help our sickest people.

ALSO be aware masks like that have one-way valves to make exhalation more comfortable. They're just a little rubber flap so the exhaled air is not filtered.

So construction mask like that might catch some inhaled droplets but won't do protect others from exhalation if the wearer is ill.

I would imagine they will offer a similar protection to a surgical mask, which also cannot "filter" outgoing air as there is no seal; it's just a line-of sight protection, perhaps helped somewhat by absorbing moisture droplets. A piece of tissue paper inside the valve would probably have the same or better effect, if you could persuade people to do that purely for the benefit of others.

they aren't ruling out masks, they're sharing an anecdote that the mask shown in a screenshot (presumably this screenshot: https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/106422086-158324591425...) isn't capable of filtering dust, let alone small pathogens.

FWIW I looked at this a week or so ago and the NHS (England I think), recommend the Alpha Solway 3030v (https://www.nhsggc.org.uk/media/251465/nhsggc-hs-guidance-on...) for FFP3 masks. But the mask users have to have training, and there are testing kits to check for correct fit. So, it seems there's a degree of skill needed to use them properly. They're also a single use product, up to 8 hours AFAICT.

At the time, last week, there were no masks available in the UK except one or two non-mainstream suppliers [and no 3M FFP3 masks that weren't at gouge prices] - the sale price on ebay/Amazon was about 5 times the retail purchase price I could get. For IPA70 the sale price was about 10 times what I found.

[I didn't purchase.]

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